Kalamazoo school board votes 4-3 to move to six-year board terms

KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education isn't divided on many issues, but trustees offered sharply different opinions Thursday on whether to change board terms from four to six years.

In the end, the board voted 4-3 to move to six-year terms starting with the next school board election in November.

The means that seats currently held by Marcy Peake and Carol McGlinn will be on the ballot this November; seats held by Ervin Armstrong, Patti Sholler-Barber and Martha Warfield will be on the ballot in November 2014, and seats held by Mark Totten and Jennie Hill will be on the November 2016 ballot.

The change in terms comes on the heels of a change in state election law, which reschedules Michigan school board elections for the November in even-number years, which means school board slates will share the ballot with the presidential or gubernational candidates, as well as other federal, state and local races.

The move to six-year terms was supported by Sholler-Barber, Peake, Warfield and Hill, while Totten, McGlinn and Armstrong voice support for keeping four-year terms.

Those supporting the six-year terms noted that four-year terms would mean there would be elections where four of seven seats could potentially change hands.

"That's a lot," Hill said.

Sholler-Barber agreed. "I think urban districts are in peril and need stability on their boards," she said.

The three in the minority argued that six-year terms are too long of a commitment for potential candidates and could make the board less responsive to the public.

"I think the move from four to six years is a significant departure, and I think the costs are too high," Totten said. "I think it will discourage exceptional candidates and make the board less accountable and less responsive to the public. The structure will make it so."

McGlinn agreed, adding that it's "really a shame" that the district can't be keep the old system of annual elections in May with four-year terms. She said one of the problems with a November election is that new trustees will be joining the school board in January, midway through the school year.

Before the new law, the vast majority of Michigan school districts -- including KPS -- held annual school board elections in May.

The new law means the next rounds of school board elections will be in November 2012, 2014 and 2016.

The change was supported by Michigan state and local election
officials, who say it will be easier and less expensive to combine
school votes with other ballots, and that it should boost the number
voting in school elections.

Kalamazoo County Clerk Tim Snow also has pointed to the cost savings. When school districts have
held elections in May, they have been responsible for the election
costs, which is estimated to average about $2,000 per precinct.

Kalamazoo Public Schools has 42 precincts, while Portage has 17 and even a small district such as Parchment has 11.

By sharing the general November ballot, school districts will only be
responsible for printing costs associated with their offices.

State officials estimate the savings at about $8 million statewide over the two-year election cycle.

However, many school officials have opposed the move to a November
ballot, worrying their board races will be overshadowed by state and
federal election campaigns. They also point out that because school
board races are nonpartisan, they'll end up at the end of a potentially
very long ballot.